𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖙𝖍 & 𝕷𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙

『𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓞𝓷𝓮』

ᵁᵐ, ʰᵉ'ˢ ᵇᵃˢⁱᶜᵃˡˡʸ ᵐʸ ᵇᵉˢᵗ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈ. ᵂᵉ ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ ʰᵃⁿᵍ ᵒᵘᵗ ʷʰᵉⁿ ᵐᵒᵐ ⁱˢⁿ'ᵗ ᵃʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ.

Amir's feet continued to hit the asphalt below as he made his way home. The walk to home was not very interesting. It's the type of walk that make you forget you are even present in the world. Even though stars would twinkle occasionally, the light pollution blocked most of their shine. There was multiple brick buildings lined up together and in the distance was a fountain. The area was like a mini attraction spot.

There were bakeries, cafes, clothing stores, little antique shops, a tattoo parlor, and many apartments. This was everyone's spot, well during the day at least.

 The day is a time where families would come to spend time at the park around the corner. 

The day is a time where girl groups would go into clothing stores and shop to their heart desires.

 The day is a time where couples would get matching tattoos, then come back for a cover up. 

The day was a place where seven siblings could enjoy the lack of expectations and relax.

Amir's eyes softened at this. Oh how he remembered the time he pushed his brother in the fountain. Poor Royal came out soaking wet and furious. Yet all that anger soon turned into glee at the sight of his siblings' laughter. Mother was outraged at the sight of her child looking like a wet rat. She demanded how the truth on how Royal was soaked ; however no one snitched on Amir in the end.

Sighing, Amir reached for his phone once more. The screen had the time and ... a message. The notification was from his younger brother, Solo.

'I know you're gonna be out late again, so I wanted to let you know no one is going to be home. I'm at Kim's sleepover. I don't know where everyone else will be. I know for sure Mom is staying at a hotel. Also Calla is at Fiona's house, so yeah. Sleep well, love ya :)'

The ravenette only chuckled. Thankful that he won't have to deal with his mother bothering him. As he moved his eyes off from the phone, he saw a familiar animal up ahead. He does a slight jog to reach the gray cat. He reaches his hand slowly, before laying his hand gently against the cat's soft fur.

"Hey Bug, it's been a while since I've seen you." Amir whispered joyfully.

The ebony boy moved to get up from his crouched position. The cat meows, before following him to his journey home.

"I got a text from Solo." Amir voiced. " You know, the one- the one that desperately wants to dye his hair."

"Solo is my younger brother. He's Filipino, around 5'4" in height." He explained. " Very sensitive, kind, empathetic, has a warm personality. Bertille, aka his middle name, loves to write and read. He finds sewing therapeutic.

Um, he's basically my best friend. We always hang out when mom isn't around. Speaking of Mom, he constantly knows where she is or what she is doing. I don't know how he does it exactly. But yeah, the great and amazing Solo."

Amir chuckles at his horrible explanation of his favorite sibling. He wouldn't admit it to the others though. That's if he ever has time to admit it to them.

It's been a while since they all could just hang out, have fun, and be themselves. That does not count the car rides to school. He remembers how they would all do nerf gun wars at their grandparents house.

Royal would always make sure Eros was the bait and Amir the lookout. Solo handled the terms and conditions (also the one who would raise the white shirt if surrender was necessary), and Royal himself the commander.

It always irked the girls. Especially Lois, who had to be the one to sign the two pages of term and conditions. Phoebe would be going over the plan with Calla in their makeshift force.

It was not only Amir who wished for these moments, the others did as well.

"As you know, my siblings and I are really close." The 15 year old said. "The whole bullying and neglect is bull, a front we put up."

"The whole reason behind it is our mom. Mom practically hates me. I don't meet her unreasonably high expectations and I'm not social. She always hated how I would never talk to her friend's kids or act like I was an entitled child.

Like why would you want your kid to act like a brat in the first place. Honestly, she doesn't think sometimes. Anyways, she separated my siblings and I from each other. Encouraged them to be mean towards me, but my siblings wouldn't do it." Amir ranted to the cat before taking a breath.

He sighed before speaking again, "There... there was this one time Eros stood up for me. Mom didn't like that. Not one bit. I was about five, Eros just turned six. Mother yelled at him then slapped him. He fell to the ground immediately, his face bleeding." Amir's face grew pale at the memory.

"We didn't notice it before, but while they were arguing, Mom was moving her rings to where the designs were on the inside of her hand. So she intended to hurt him. She didn't heal his cuts either. It was Royal and Phoebe who did. Lois and I made sure he had blankets, water, and his shark plushy. Eros was crying, he was scared, yet he never blamed me.

In fact, he made sure I slept in his room that night. He didn't want Mom to do the same to me. Kinda dumb since she obviously didn't give a fuck, but it's the thought that counts." He sadly chuckled.

Snapping out of the past, he realized he was home. The house was not too big, but not an average sized home either. It was a simple traditional home with two stories. There were seven beds, five baths, a garage, game/lounge room, basement, and attic.

Amir's room was the attic. It wasn't bad actually. It was like those modern attic rooms, so he wasn't mad with it. Pretty cozy if you asked him.

A meow caught his attention. After he whipped his head to the British Shorthair, he crouched down to pet the cat. His slightly rough hand met soft fur. Bug, what Amir calls him, nuzzled his head to the boy's hand. The ravenette allowed a small smile to appear.

"But you already know this, don't ya Bug."

"Meow."